Weekly Roundup, November 27th – December 3rd
Weekly Runs
Stephen Carter and Ruth Butterfield headed out early this week for a fresh, sunrise run. The early runner catches the best views and they certainly caught some.
Damian Caswell used the stunning morning on Thursday for a run up the Domen. With views of the Brecon Beacons and a dusting of snow made the climb up the mountain all the more worthwhile.
Thursday Training
Mike Matthews Treats Caroline
Mike sure knows how to treat Caroline. First it was a trip to Paris (or a car wash in Bargoed that happens to have a photo of Paris) and then gave her an advent calendar for the first time. I’m going to be disappointed if she does share what’s inside a ScrewFix Advent Calendar.
Mountain Mike
Meanwhile, whilst Caroline was enjoying her advent calendar, Mike was out in the mountains enjoying what he described as his ‘first decent run for months’. It looked like perfect weather for a mountain run.
2018 Snowdonia Marathon
Entries for the 2018 Snowdonia Marathon opened on Friday morning there were instantly big queues for tickets with the race selling out in 2 hours! Looking at the starting list, myself, Mike Matthews, Sian Jones, Sam Jones, Helen Williams, Claire Sullivan, James Williams, Kevin Bradfield, Paul Lewis, Richard Sheehy, Michelle Jayne, Robert King, Nicola Lewis, Rebecca Lewis, Rhys Lewis, Brian Moffett, Mathew Trinder, Andrew Gunter, Damian Caswell and Richard Price Jr (in addition to Sam Standerwick who enetered last week) have all entered.
Lliswerry 8
Looks like it was another mad rush for places in the ‘flattest race on the planet’ with servers crashing soon after 1930. Some clubs members persisted and madly refreshed through the server errors until they could get through whilst others opted to sit back with a Chinese takeaway until people tired of hitting refresh and snook in to secure a place.
Tesco Groundwork Scheme
Some good news for the start of 2018. parkrun and Junior parkrun will be participating in the Tesco Groundwork Scheme in January and February 2018. If successful, any money awarded will be spent on improving the paths to help avoid water build up and ice in the winter months. This will help make it much safer environment for the runners, avoid last-minute cancellations and reduce the need for additional volunteers. As soon as the scheme starts we’ll be letting you all know the stores that will be participating.
parkrun
After some great team work from the volunteers deicing the paths, 67 runners participated with 2 PBs to reported from both Anna and Nick Smith (26:31 and 26:34 respectively).
parkrun Tourists
Lesley O’Connell was on tour in Colchester Castle Parkrun this weekend and put Cyril Williams hill repeats to good use on a lumpy parkrun.
Might Contain Nuts Half Marathon
Sam Standerwick – always willing to attacks some tough terrain in search of bling – attacked the Might Contain Nuts half marathon on Saturday. It featured 1,500ft in 2 miles and a rocky, technical descent.
Brean Down 10k Santa Scramble
Gary Bartram travelled to Brean for a challenging Santa-themed trail race.
“This race has replaced the Brean Down 5k Santa Scramble as the most challenging race I’ve completed.
Watch time is 58:42 much better than the 65 minutes I’d given myself as a target.
My new trail shoes worked like a dream. They felt great on the downhills and I was able to get passed lots of runners. Uphill was equally great but my legs weren’t equal to the task!”
Cardiff Santa and Elf Dash
Laura, Caroline, Alex, Darren, Suzie, Maricel, Sarah (and a few others I think) looked the part for the Cardiff Santa and Elf Dash in Cardiff Bay on Sunday. They managed to find one of Santa worthy of a Hollywood movie!
Gwent League XC: Pembrey
What a fantastic turnout from the Green Army for the 3rd fixture in the Gwent League 2017/18 season. It’s not the easiest to get to but you can rely on members to turn out both to compete and to support. The course is a favourite for many and is a stunning area to run in.
In addition to the runners who participated, a big thank you to those that travelled down to support the runners and to help out collecting tokens (Neil Lloyd).
Some members enjoyed a post-race visit to Santa’s Grotto and judging by this photo, Rhi Griffin enjoyed it more than the kids!
Virgin London Marathon 2018 Ballot
Richie Gardner from Aberdare was on hand to help out with the draw for the VLM 2018 which was held after the men’s race. Sam Standerwick and Gavin Patterson were the lucky two members to be drawn. In addition to the place they each also received a swanky exclusive t-shirt.
Got something to say?